View full sizePart of the selection of more than 400 free prom dresses to be available Saturday to women planning to attend Staten Island's first ever "Senior Senior Prom" Valentine's Weekend.Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Staten Island seniors -- especially members of the New Dorp Beach Friendship Club -- can get ready to put on their dancing shoes for the first-ever "Senior Senior Prom."

In the middle of the winter doldrums -- on Valentine's Weekend, Feb. 15 -- Beacon of Hope NY and Where to Turn, working with the National Honor Society and the Student Union of New Dorp High School, will sponsor the prom from 3 to 7 p.m. in the gymnasium of the high school.

Food, music, prizes and the chance to be King and Queen of the Prom will be available to the first 150 "seniors" over age 55, who register to attend. There's a $10 donation suggested, but no one will be turned away, organizers said.

In conjunction with the prom, on Saturday organizers will be hosting a prom dress distribution at Oasis Christian Center, 539 Greeley Ave., Midland Beach.

From noon to 2 p.m. free prom dresses will be available to any senior planning on attending the prom. Seniors can also sign up to attend the prom.

From 3 to 5 p.m., remaining prom dresses will be available to any high school student who cannot afford to purchase a dress for the upcoming prom season.

All prom dresses have been donated as part of a Where to Turn program that has distributed more than 750 prom dresses over the past three years.

At least 400 dresses will be available to browse through on Saturday, according to Dennis McKeon, executive director of Where To Turn.

"We'll have all different sizes and styles on the racks, from the very modest, to the very modern," he said.

The idea for the "Senior Senior Prom" grew out of Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts, McKeon explained.

"Beacon of Hope NY and Where To Turn have not forgotten about our seniors," McKeon said.

"It's been 454 days since Sandy impacted our community and destroyed the New Dorp Beach Friendship Club that more than 150 seniors attended each day. The senior center, which was the social hub of the senior community, and the site of frequent dances and parties for seniors, is still not up and running," he said.

Repairs to the Friendship Club, in the basement of Our Lady of Lourdes R.C. Church on Cedar Grove Avenue in New Dorp Beach, are in limbo because of a funding dispute; the church is on city property administered by the Parks Department and there is confusion over whether the work would have to be funded through the city's capital budget, or whether other Sandy-related funds and donations can be used for repairs.

For information about Saturday's prom dress give-away, or the "Senior Senior Prom" contact McKeon at Where to Turn, 718-966-6531, or Deidre McGrath, president of Beacon of Hope NY, at 347-934-9726. 